Windham Rotunda
| birth_place = Brooksville, Florida | death_date = | death_place = | resides = Brooksville, Florida | billed = Brooksville, Florida | trainer = FCW staff | debut = 2009 | retired = }} '''Windham Lawrence Rotunda (May 23, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and working on the Raw brand where he is a member of The Nexus. He also competes in their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). He was part of the second season of NXT as Husky Harris. World Wrestling Entertainment (2009–present) He debuted in FCW in April 2009 with a victory, using the name "Alex Rotundo". He later changed his name to "Duke Rotundo". On June 23, 2009, Rotundo teamed up with his younger brother Bo, and they defeated Justin Angel and Kris Logan to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship. At the November 19 FCW television tapings they lost the championship to the Dudebusters (Curt Hawkins and Caylen Croft). ''NXT'' and The Nexus (2010-2011) On June 1, 2010, Rotunda was announced as a competitor in the second season of WWE NXT under the name "Husky Harris", with Cody Rhodes as his mentor. Harris made his debut on the June 8 episode of NXT, competing in a tag team match with Rhodes against Montel Vontavious Porter and Percy Watson, which they lost. After a rocky start with his pro Cody Rhodes, Harris turned heel on the June 22 edition of NXT by attacking announcer Matt Striker, just as his pro did the previous week. The following week, Harris lost to Porter in a singles match, and was ranked seventh out of the eight rookies in the first poll. In the second poll, Harris moved up to sixth place, narrowly avoiding elimination. On August 9 the rookies appeared in a six-man tag team match on Raw, which Harris' team won when he pinned Kaval, but his team lost a rematch the following night on NXT. In the poll later that night, Harris climbed to fourth place out of the six rookies. Harris was one of two rookies eliminated from NXT on August 17. Following his elimination, Harris and Rhodes attacked Kaval, resulting in a brawl also involving Porter and Kofi Kingston. Harris reappeared in the season finale of NXT with the other eliminated rookies and joined in on the attack on the NXT winner, Kaval. At the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in October, a disguised Harris and Michael McGillicutty interfered in a match between John Cena and Wade Barrett, and helped Barrett win, forcing Cena to join Barrett's stable The Nexus per the pre-match stipulation. Harris' and McGillicutty's identities were revealed on the following day's episode of Raw, though Barrett claimed he had not asked for their help and refused to make them full time members of The Nexus. The following week, Harris and McGillicutty cost Cena a match against The Miz, prompting Barrett to give them the opportunity to win membership in The Nexus. On the October 18 episode of Raw, Harris and McGillicutty failed to earn a place in The Nexus when they lost to Cena and Randy Orton in a tag team match. The following week on Raw, however, Harris and McGillicutty were inducted into The Nexus, in spite of their loss. In January 2011 CM Punk took over Nexus and had each of its members put through an initiation. Harris passed his initiation, a lashing from the rest of the group, and was allowed to remain a member of The Nexus, alongside Punk, McGillicutty and David Otunga.Three weeks later, on the January 31 episode of Raw, Harris and McGillicutty unsuccessfully challenged Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov for the WWE Tag Team Championship. After the match Randy Orton attacked them as revenge for them interfering in his WWE Championship match against The Miz and costing him the championship, and punted Harris in the head. Axel Mulligan and FCW (2011–2012) Due to the punt in the head Rotunda received from Orton, he returned to FCW and on March 18th, performed as his new character Axel Mulligan - a Mankind-esque gimmick who wears a blue mask. In his first match he defeated Ricardo Rodriguez and performed his new finisher, the stunner. On February 2, 2012, Harris and his younger brother Bo Rotundo defeated Brad Maddox and Eli Cottonwood, who was substituting for the injured Briley Pierce, to win the Florida Tag Team Championship for the second time. The brothers held the championship until March 15, when they lost it to Corey Graves and Jake Carter. Bray Wyatt and NXT (2012-present) The following month, Rotunda debuted a new character on FCW television, that of Bray Wyatt, a Cape Fear-esque character, who associated himself with Eli Cottonwood. As Wyatt, he returned to NXT at the inaugural tapings at Full Sail University on May 17 and defeated Aiden English in a singles match. In early July 2012, Rotunda suffered a torn pectoral muscle, necessitating surgery. Wyatt family Despite the injury, Wyatt continued to appear on NXT and founded a faction known as the Wyatt Family, with Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. Personal life Rotunda is a third generation professional wrestler; his grandfather Blackjack Mulligan, father Mike Rotunda and uncles Barry and Kendall Windham were all professional wrestlers. He has a younger brother, Taylor, who is also a professional wrestler, and a younger sister, Mika. Rotunda was named after Barry Windham. Rotunda attended Hernando High School, where he won a state wrestling championship at 275 lb in 2005. He graduated from high school in 2005. He also played football as a defensive tackle and guard. Rotunda played at the College of the Sequoias for two seasons, earning second-team All-American honors as a sophomore offensive guard. He earned a football scholarship to Troy University, where he played collegiate football for two years. He left Troy University 27 hours before earning a Bachelor's degree after deciding to become a wrestler. In wrestling *'Finishing moves' **Running senton *'Signature moves' **Ura-nage *'Nicknames' *'*"The Army Tank with a Ferrari Engine"' Championships and accomplishments *'Florida Championship Wrestling' **FCW Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Bo Rotundo *'Pro Wrestling Illustrated' **PWI ranked him #'331' of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2010 References External links *WWE profile *Online World of Wrestling profile *CageMatch profile Category:WWE NXT Category:World Wrestling Entertainment current roster Category:Florida Championship Wrestling alumni Category:WWE NXT current roster Category:1987 births Category:2009 debuts